Carolina Panthers can't convert short-yardage chances

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton runs the ball around the the 49ers' Tramaine Brock on Sunday.

Ben Earp/The Star

By Bob Sutton

Published: Sunday, January 12, 2014 at 06:50 PM.

CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers failed to reach their goals at the goal line.

They struggled to finish drives in the red zone in Sunday’s 23-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“That’s what’s so disheartening about it, not scoring in the red zone,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “Especially so close on the 1-yard line.I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform in situations.”

Twice the Panthers reached the San Francisco 1-yard line and were turned away in the first half.

Facing fourth down on the first play of the second quarter, Newton’s sneak was unsuccessful.

Indirectly, the Panthers later came up with points off that sequence, but the tone might have been set nonetheless.

“It was a big situation,” San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. “It let them know we came ready to play.”

CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers failed to reach their goals at the goal line.

They struggled to finish drives in the red zone in Sunday’s 23-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“That’s what’s so disheartening about it, not scoring in the red zone,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “Especially so close on the 1-yard line.I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform in situations.”

Twice the Panthers reached the San Francisco 1-yard line and were turned away in the first half.

Facing fourth down on the first play of the second quarter, Newton’s sneak was unsuccessful.

Indirectly, the Panthers later came up with points off that sequence, but the tone might have been set nonetheless.

“It was a big situation,” San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. “It let them know we came ready to play.”

Still, the Panthers forced the 49ers to punt and Ted Ginn Jr.’sbig return set up a touchdown one play later, so Carolina wasn’t empty-handed on that exchange.

“I wish we could have scored the touchdown (the first time) obviously, but it kind of fell into place,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said.

Later in the first half, the Panthers arrived at the doorstep of the end zone again.

The ball was inside the 1 after Brooks was offsides, but Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert lost a yard on a third-down play up the middle.

Newton had lobbied for a quarterback sneak, but the play call came in different from that.

“It’s based on what they are doing and what we see,” Rivera said. “I thought the decision was a good decision. Mike Tolbert has done a lot of good things for us and gotten that for us in the past.”

The Panthers made three trips into San Francisco territory in the second, but each time those possessions went for naught.

Newton was sacked on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, pushing the Panthers out of field-goal range. So an eight-minute possession concluded with a punt.

Newton was intercepted by Donte Whitnerwith 4:22 to play in the game after Carolina reached the San Francisco 28. Then the game’s final snap was taken by the Panthers at the 49ers 7.

By then, the Panthers had outgainedSan Francisco 325-315.

“Two drives that get inside the 1-foot line and one drive inside the 30 there in the second half and got a grand total of three points out of that,” Carolina tight end Greg Olsen said. “You’re not going to be very successful with that recipe offensively. We just couldn’t punch it in when we had to. It came back to really pretty much decide the game.”